


The Firelords advisor

by The_grand_romance



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Bisexual Zuko (Avatar), M/M, Slow Build, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25403818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_grand_romance/pseuds/The_grand_romance
Summary: A year after the war’s end, Sokka is feeling lost. His relationship with Suki crumbling, he is wasting away down at the Southern Water tribe. His father Hakoda remembers the time he last saw Sokka truly happy, at boiling rock with Zuko, and has an idea. Sokka is sent to the fire nations capital for “work experience” to “build a diplomatic relationship between the firelord and the southern water tribe whilst learning the roles of government” he does do all that, especially the relationship part ;)This is a slower Zukka fic, as with nothing to do all summer I want to write a long slow burn action-adventure love story with my favourite characters and my favourite ship! I want to combine some different ideas and styles that I don’t often see in fan-fiction to tell stories
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 41





	1. In which Zuko sends and receives a lot of letters

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the fic! I wanted to do something different with a first chapter set up, so I’ve decided to write this first part as a load of letters between Zuko and Sokka, so we can immediately get the ball rolling.

To: Sokka, Aang and Katara

Hey, Zuko here- I know its been awhile since you’ve last been able to visit the fire-nation, but im looking forward for the chance to see at least Aang and Katarra for a cup of tea before you continue on for a holiday. I’m sure the two of you are looking forward to some long-awaited quality time together after all the hell dealing with the end of the war and all its issues. It’s a shame I can’t see Sokka though, but I’d doubt you’d want to be the third wheel anyway.

Considering how tough things have been as the firelord, I feel like I need a holiday anyway. Its not that I can’t deal with the work, but It can be a little dry sometimes, especially when dealing with those stuffed up pretentious aristocrats. It has its good bits though. Like last week, I was able to officially close the Boiling Rock as a prison. We’re still debating on what to do with the building.

Still though, I want you to remember that all of you are welcome at the fire nation, it gets lonely without you all.

Zuko

\-------------------

To Zuko, my fav firelord! 

Thanks, Zuko for the letter- It got here to late for Aang and Katara, they’d already hot-tailed it out faster than a snow rat! I’m still here though walking and talking, having a little major row with Suki about our relationship, a major row with my father about my future- just wheeling and dealing!

Well, maybe not that.

Everything’s been going wrong since I came back to stay with my parents at the southern water tribe, because nothing feels right, and I keep having fights. I could deal with hanging off thousand-foot drop-cliffs whilst fighting fifty thousand fire nation soldiers, but my brain draws the line at actual real-world problems. Funny how it does that, stupid thing.

But other than the breakup and breakdown I’ve been great. Just normal Sokka stuff.

_Enclosed is a drawing by Sokka, its him looking all cool doing finger guns as if all’s good. Its still not great, but he’s getting better. It Is the icing on the cake of what is, very clearly, a cry for help._

_\------------------_

To Sokka,

What? It sounds like you’re in seriously hot water? Please tell me what’s happened and send news as soon as possible.

Zuko

\-----------------------------------

To Zuko,

Ah, well. I may have made you feel a little stressed from what I wrote there, it all kind of… came out. I ought to really talk about it, as Aang and Katara are on holiday, Toph’s god knows where and Suki… well I suppose in a manner of speaking you’re the only friend I can contact. And by manner of speaking I mean only one.

Yikes.

I suppose it started with Suki and me, we just... started to lose the spark? She stopped feeling anything for me, and after the exactment of all we did together, settling down was hard on both of us. It sure a hell felt like a let-down. Eventually she gave up and hit me with the gut-punching shaped phrase that was “I’m breaking up”. That kinda hurt. A lot. But she was right, even though I didn’t want to admit it. Then one thing led to another and suddenly, here I am friendless back home, with all the official duties of learning Water Tribe politics and government, which is more complicated than It looks. Then again, you are the firelord, so I suppose you know how it feels.

So then I stopped heading to meetings with my father, so then he gets angry at me wasting my life and, well I think you can see where this is going. Sorry about this being a dreary letter, but I at the end of my rope for ideas ya’know? Please help.

Sokka

_Sokka has included another illustration for effect, of him staring at the end of a rope for comedic effect. It’s a good enough pun to make Zuko laugh, before frowning and going to think._

_\--------------------------_

Dear Sokka,

I will be honest here and say I’m not very good at making people feel better. But I do have a plan. There’s another letter enclosed in the parcel. Give it to your father.

_Next to the note, is a much fancier, diplomatic looking sealed letter._

Dear Hakoda of the Water Tribe,

I hope you are well. I am writing from the fire nation to talk about your son, from our recent correspondence it would seem that he has been struggling with his training in the southern water tribe. It seems that without any friends or close support, he’s been struggling to learn. Because I care about him, I would like to offer some work experienc-


	2. In which somebody turns up a Zuko's doorstep

Sokka sat, quite comfortably, on the deck of a fire nation battleship, at ease. This whole running-away-from-my-problems-business had worked out quite well. He had lost the boring politics of back home, he wouldn’t be so lonely and most importantly, he got to reunite with Zuko.

Sokka was incredibly excited to see Zuko again and tried to remember when he last saw him. It was with Aang and Katara, working on dealing with the fire nation colonies. It had been a long while since then, maybe he had changed? No, Sokka was sure that the old, thoughtful yet flaming bender that he had ended the war with was still there.

Then, he saw land.

The great and grandeur of the Fire Nation capital was plain to see. Its bright red beams danced under the sunlight, covering the city with an iridescent beauty. Sokka wasn’t one for admiring architecture, but he still thought it was pretty epic. The ship pulled in, whilst Sokka noticed the Fire Nation were ready for his arrival. Half the court had come to see him! But as he stepped off the gangplank, only one figure in the middle caught his attention.

Zuko looked majestic. More than majestic. His bright red robes caught the sun just perfectly, flowing up past his scar to his jet black hair, now long and tied up in his hairpiece. Capping it all off was a warm smile. Sokka had to stop himself staring.

“Sokka of the Water Tribe” Zuko said in a very official sounding voice, for the crowds benefit, not Sokka’s. “I welcome you both as a diplomatic envoy and a personal advisor to the fire nation! May you be shown gratitude and good by my people.” The crowd applauded, whilst Sokka did some fast thinking skills.

“Firelord Zuko” he replied in less well thought out speech “I am gratefull to become your advisor and envoy, may this signal a period of – urm.. long-lasting friendship between the fire and.. Water Nations.” He looked at the crowed desperately for approval and saw some smiles. He breathed a sigh of relief. He had said the right thing.

Zuko smiled, which was rare, whilst inviting Sokka into his personal carriage back to the palace (in an official tone of course). They sat down and as the door of the carriage drew shut and gave them a moment of personal time, silence fell. Sokka didn’t no what to say. Years of wasted time apart stood weighted on their tongues, daring each other to move. A moment passed, then another. Then Zuko piped up.

“So… did you have a nice journey?”

It is a funny thing, seeing a old friend for the first time in a long while. All the moments you will have missed, the sights, the sounds. Yet sometimes, just a simple question like that can bring it all rushing back, as it did to Sokka.

“Well, I had a very good journey -thank’you with no sea monster this time” Sokka said, drawing out the “you-“ to a disproportionately long level.

“Its been ages since you’ve last been here and I’m looking forward to showing you the cushy life of fire lord” Sokka cocked a brow, wondering if he’d just bought a ticket to the easy life.  
“cushy?”

“well, in a manner of speaking… you have the comfy bed and nice food, plus the meaningful change, but…” Zuko put his hand on his neck “you do have to deal with the odd assassination attempt and dry meetings”

“Ohhhhhhhhrgh!” groaned Sokka, slapping his hands into his face at a supersonic speed. “you didn’t tell me that! I can’t believe it. I’m going to have to sit through dry meetings!”

Zuko chuckled, “trust me, after enough of those, you start to enjoy the assassins”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank's for reading another chapter! I always respect the people who read the early boring exposition chapters, so from now onwards its gonna be that good gay wholesomeness you signed on for. 
> 
> I've been re-reading some Dyanna-Wynne Jone's during this (she wrote Howl's Moving Castle) so of course the next chapter is gonna be a making breakfast scene. It's gonna have tea, bacon, eggs, and some qaulity Zukka coming up, so stay tuned x.


	3. In which Sokka has breakfast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any delay's in getting this out, but I wanted to write a longer chapter here. I defo need to look back through this again and give it a redraft so the dialogue is better, but I wanted to have something out for you to enjoy! So have fun with some more Zukka content to keep you warm at night.

Zuko could not, he absolutely could not, he absolutely fucking could not, he absolutely fucking could not ever, EVER believe this would happen. Oh, sure, he had thought about it, pondered the idea during boring moments, nestled his anxious mind to sleep with the idea occasionally, but he had never, NEVER ever thought he could ever look forward to a large amount of quality time with Sokka.

He could remember that moment, after rescuing Sokka’s family and friends from Boiling rock, where he felt something. He had been sat on the airship, heading to the air temple with Suki, Hakoda and those other convicts in the ship, watching Sokka confidently guide the airship back home. Something had clicked.

From then onwards, he’d always felt something different towards him. His jokes were funnier, his smiles brighter, his prescience lit up the room a little more. He could actually get a good night’s sleep when camping out with him and the gang, which said enough. He had a hard crush on Sokka. But then, times had changed. Aang took out the firelord, Zuko took his place and then never could find the time to hang out, especially as Sokka and Suki were a thing. Eventually Zuko had thrown in the towel and given up on the idea. He had a crush on a straight guy, who lived in another country, with his girlfriend (in the suburbs of all places!) and Zuko had fallen, hook line and sinker for it

He tried to make it go away. But it didn’t. Moving didn’t make it go away, Mai didn’t make it go away, resulting in a painful end. Eventually, painfully, slowly he had learned to just forget about it. But, when Sokka mailed him in the dumps with nowhere to go, his heart had begun to beat a little faster, and he wondered if he could make the voice get some finality. With Aang and Katara being on a long holiday and Toph still AWOL (Zuko made a quick mental note to check on that situation later) Zuko had a good chance to see if he could make Sokka feel better about his break up, whilst seeing if he could not break his heart own in the process.

He just had to not mess it up. He just had to talk to the cute man Infront of him. ‘ _well_..’ said a voice in his head that he was all too familiar with ‘ _aren’t you doing great with that_?’ it was true though, Zuko hadn’t really been leading the conversation to any great lengths, but fortunately Sokka was overcompensating for it.

“So, I was sat their in the meeting, listening to talk of the new nation building representatives from the northern water tribe and this guy was real annoying, he was lording over us like we were savages or something when he-“

Suddenly, there was a loud lurch and the carriage threw forwards with a crack! It Threw Sokka right of his seat and story and right onto… Zuko. _‘Oh my god’_ Zuko’s brain whirred _‘he’s on me._ _Fate really is fucking with me today’._ Then Zuko stopped thinking. Not because he wanted to, but because his mind had just been thrown into a blind homo-erotic meltdown.

“Zuko, you okay buddy?” asked Sokka, picking himself up and looking out the carriage window. “why’d it lurch?”

“Mounts are all in a frenzy, I’ve never seen them like this before” replied the driver, just as alarmed as Sokka. Then Sokka’s head snapped back, realising he asked two question’s and only got one answer. “Zuko… you good?”

_‘Yup. Just give me three to five years to replay this moment in my head picking over everything I could have done better instead of going to sleep and ill be just fine.’_

“Urm, yeah, or… well I think so” he mumbled in a normal response. Sokka gave him a look.

“are you sure you are okay? You seem concussed, but you’re not exactly hurt?”

“I’m fine! Really! Just a little jilted from the shock.” Suddenly Sokka burst out laughing.

“Are you okay now?” Zuko asked, flipping the sanity checking playbook on its head.

“It’s just hilarious” said Sokka with one of those rare smiles. “Considering the amount, we’ve done together? And a little jump like that scares us? We’re old.”

“well, the PTSD’s gotta kick in sometime” Zuko was glad to have an excuse to brush of the panic and with a regained confidence “Come on, if the driver can’t get those royal horses under control we can just walk it, its only five minutes”

“Perfect!” Sokka leaped off the carriage and onto the streets “want a hand, Your highness?” (he accompanied this with an over-the-top bow) “now come to think of it, I haven’t had breakfast- know any places?”

A walk, a lengthy explanation to the rather stupid guard raising Sokka’s blood pressure (“he’s the firelord! Just cause he’s not in his royal carriage doesn’t make it not him! Please let us in!”) they were finally in the palace.

“So…” Zuko mumbled “You’re in the royal chamber next to mine, and I’m going to have some porters move your stuff in while I show you around, ready for the royal tour?”

“wait a minute”

“what?”

“you promised breakfast”

“oh, urm… I’m sure the kitchens will have some food then, although the cooks will be on their break”

“we can whip up stuff ourselves! Just like old times”

So, the royal tour took a very sharp turn to the right and lead them into the palace kitchens. Zuko was already trying to remember everything he knew about Sokka and food. “So… not to be rude, but what did you like to eat again? The kitchens will have anything we want or need?”

“Oh really? Then I want a feast!” Sokka said, but then seing Zuko’s _oh shit_ stare “I’m kidding, I’m kidding- I’ll just have some meat and bread”   
“oh okay, I can do that. Back when me and my Iroh were travelling the Earth Kingdom we used to have to make our own food, so I can cook that, I think.”   
“The almighty and grand firelord doesn’t have a chef?”

“we’ve got a team, but they’ll be on their breaks now – besides I like cooking” Zuko did actually. He’d found it quite cathartic and had would sometimes do it in his spare time when he remembered to eat. (which was not often).

“Ooooh! And can we have tea with breakfast?” Sokka blurted out, taking Zuko by surprise. “you like tea?”

“yup”

“I… erm, never figured you for a tea person to be honest.”

“why not!” said an outraged Sokka

“you just don’t seem, I don’t know, calm enough? Like you need to be a relaxed person anyway to enjoy tea.”

“you used to drink it when you where a bratty teenager with anger management issues”

“touché” 

“Besides, it was your uncle that introduced me to it, back right after the war ended and we were figuring out the peace plans back in Ba-Sing Sei.” ‘ _Of course, all that time in Iroh’s teashop would do that to you’_ thought Zuko, remembering. Right after the war had ended and Zuko had been crowned firelord, they’d all had to stay and negotiate a ‘formal peace’ with the Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom. It was essentially formality as they had already stopped fighting but there had been many long debates they’d had to sit in.

In between all the work of negotiating reparation payments and military reductions, Zuko had enjoyed it. Mainly because they were all shacked up together and Aang and Katarra had finally started to date. He had been with Mai at the time but had still enjoyed having the odd day out with friends when he wasn’t working. He had shown Sokka the tea shop while there and combined with Iroh’s presence? Of course Sokka would like tea. 

“Well, I’m a bit terrible at making tea, but I can try my best.”

“oh yeah” Sokka grinned “I heard from your uncle. I can do it pretty well though. It’s only boiling and adding herbs, what can go wrong?”

“Something always does with me.. its either over or under stewed, or its too hot or too cold, you understand?”

“urm, nope” Sokka was properly confused at how you could make tea badly. He was right of course. But before Sokka could properly rib Zuko for his tea making curse, they entered the kitchen with its vast array of sights and smells. “that’s what I love to smell, fried meat baby!” Sokka said as he practically swooned over the smell of food. “the food on the ship here- not gonna recommend it. Meat there tasted like rats, probably was to be honest. But it was all worth it for this! Alright, you start frying and ill start brewing!”.

And just like that, they got of to work, snippets of banter interrupting their own work as Zuko scoured the place for supplies. He found some eggs, bacon and bread, and grabbed a pan. He stuck the bacon on with a warm fizz and cracked the eggs on the side of the pan with an elegant swoosh, drawing a “fancy work there Mr Masterchef!” from Sokka. Then he sliced the bread and let the food sizzle.

“So, I reckon you’d be the one to know this, but do we have any idea on Toph?” said Sokka.

“nope” Zuko mouthed back, focusing on the pan.

“seriously?” said Sokka, adding the tea into the kettle “no ones heard from hear in six months!”

“yup, I’ve had my Kyoshi bodyguards assigned to the job of tracking her. They’re master trackers and they’ve achieved nothing. I even had that lady with that tracker mole thingy and it couldn’t find her either” Zuko sighed, as he masterfully flipped the sizzling bacon. “She still seems to be alive, as we keep getting descriptions of people seeing ‘a teenage girl with an attitude’ all around, but they can never figure out where went” Zuko continued “So at this point, all we know is that she’s somewhere in the fire nation, but where?” A shrug. “its really bothering me, I’m losing sleep over her” Then Zuko transferred the bacon and eggs of the pan and onto the bread, which he slid across to Sokka. “that’s not really a fire nation dish, but I hope you like it”

Sokka grinned and dug in greedily, while Zuko took Sokka’s kettle and poured the tea. “Zuko?” said Sokka “I’ve gotta say two things. One: disappearing for months is a very, very, very Toph’s style. She’s gonna rock up outside the palace doors in a couple of weeks and act like nothing is out of the ordinary. Don’t sweat it” Zuko grinned. “thanks I-“but before Zuko could get another word in, Sokka held up his hand. “Two: this is the nicest meal I’ve had in... well… forever. This is beautiful!”

Zuko’s heart did a summersault.


End file.
